Salvation, of Sorts
by Couatl
Summary: AU, ShizuNatsu! "My function is to eat, protect Mai, and create Earth!" Earth is a beautiful place, but this ... is no Earth.


Disclaimer: Does not belong to me.

Notes: I am sorry to say that not my best efforts were invested into this piece of chapter, although I had planned to give it my all.

**Salvation, of Sorts**

Chapter One – No Earth

* * *

Midori-sensei said that I was the slowest student in her class, but that I was also the brightest. She told me that I had the intelligence and potential to be more efficient in class, except that I didn't know how to use it to my advantage. I'm sort of worried.

But it's alright, because Mai said it didn't matter. She laughed it off and spluttered something about Midori coming to class drunk again, because she couldn't possibly such things with that level of insight. She gave me a big bowl of ramen, and a second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth helping too. I love Mai's ramen!

I went back into my bedroom later. Midori-sensei gave us some homework about solar systems, the universe, and muttered something unintelligible about alcohol-partying today. I'm learning new words every day. From Mai, Nao, and Midori-sensei. Mai told me what 'unintelligible' is – it means 'not understandable'.

Why Mai doesn't allow me to eat twenty-three servings of her ramen at every meal of every day is unintelligible.  
Why spicy foods enjoy setting fire to my tongue is unintelligible.  
When I told Nao what I learnt about 'unintelligible', she smirked and said that why that drunkard Midori is still a teacher must be unintelligible too.

I don't really understand what she meant. It is unintelligible too.

I like doing the homework Midori-sensei gives us. Mai always cooks something for me whenever I complete them. Midori-sensei gives out easier homework. Nao said that the other classes had to write thesis papers on space exploration – it sounds hard; I don't even know what a 'thesis' is. It sounds like a trick-word though – trick words are short and easy to spell, but they are difficult to understand. They are unintelligible as well.

Today's homework is quite hard. I called Mai in to help me. She explained that I had to concentrate, except that I have a short attention span. Is that a good thing? But then she promised to bake a huge cake for me if I could do it, so it must have been a good thing. I tried really hard.

Mai was proud of me for making a planet. It's wet and blue and round and it's made of my saliva and sweat. Midori-sensei said it was pointless to cover the foundation-ball entirely in liquid, because I can't progress unless I put some 'life' into it. She said I was pretty lively, so it shouldn't be difficult to add in that function.

Mai says that 'function' means 'purpose'. Nao said that it meant 'role'. And Midori-sensei said that it meant 'the action or use that something or someone exists for'.

My function is to eat, protect Mai, and create Earth!

-- db --

There are things swimming in my planet now.

They are really tiny – Mai had to take out her nanoscope so that we could see that properly. Midori-sensei said something about them being a species of single-cell organisms. Single-cell organisms remind me of Mai's ramen! Mai's ramen reminds me of Mai!

Earth is fascinating. My single-cell organisms are growing larger, stronger, smarter, and faster. They live longer too. I better write this down.

_The bigger something is, the longer it lasts._

There, Mai will be pleased when she sees that I've been taking down notes!

Nao said that my Earth was too boring, so now I'm adding more things. If you take a handful of sand and sprinkle it on the planet, a whole new patch of land appears. I didn't form that much land yet, because my single-cell organisms are still weak and can't move on land.

I've been experimenting with them, like Midori-sensei told me to. Sometimes, I keep them alive for long beyond what they should have lived until, and they change. Mai says that they are 'adapting' to the new environment and that if they 'adapt' a lot, they 'evolve'.

Now Mai says that my single-cell organisms are no longer single-celled. They're getting quite clever too, after all the evolving they went through. They don't swim straight into a bigger creature's throat anymore. I guess that's an improvement.

Homework is tiring. I'm going to go eat Mai's ramen now! Mai's ramen is the best.

But Mai makes Mai's ramen, so Mai is even better than the best.

--

Earth is an amazing thing.

It now has 'trees' (which I made from some of Mai's cosplay materials; I hope she doesn't find out), 'lakes' (I botched up a bit of the sweat part), 'mountains' (Nao was pressing it too tightly), 'gorges' (I didn't dent it on purpose), 'grass' (I spilt a bit of the ramen ingredients on it; what a waste), and lots of other things which I can't remember the names of.

The creatures have changed a lot. Leaving my planet to grow overnight was a good decision. They have arms, and legs, and torsos, and faces – they look like us!

Midori-sensei said that it was boring to only a 'survive' function, so I added more features for it. The creatures can now 'enjoy' – Mai said that it was romantic for them to pursue happiness. Mai loves that romance-thing, so it must be a good omen!

There're other creatures too. Midori-sensei calls them 'animals'. There're 'birds', 'dogs', 'cats', 'fish', and all sorts of other weird things. I like animals. Nao claims that I'm like the 'monkeys'.

Midori-sensei says that the 'trees' are 'plants'. But she says that not all 'plants' are 'trees' – there are also 'flowers', 'ferns', and 'weeds'. I think that Midori-sensei is too interested in Earth. Even though she lives with us, she never used to come into my room that much.

I don't mind, because Midori-sensei teaches me useful things.

I showed Mai the 'flower' that Midori-sensei told me about, and she was very happy. It's a deep red, fragile, and made of many 'petals'. Mai said that it was a 'rose'. I like roses.

Mai says that the rose is 'beautiful'. Mai explained that 'beautiful' is how wonderful something is. I told her that 'beautiful' must be a very important thing then.

Because Mai is beautiful.

--

After the weekend, Earth has made a lot of progress. I put in on fast-forward, and I think it's cheating, but Nao said that it would be alright. A little bit of tweaking, and a few more functions, and the Earth would be able to live on its own.

The creatures that look like us are incredible. They've built tall things, taller than the trees, made of stone. They dug up strange rocks from the mountains and call it 'money' – they're starting to invent their own words! Adding the 'know' function helped.

They have a lot of food as well. Ramen, included! But not as good as Mai's ramen. Never as good as Mai's ramen. The ice-creams look tasty, though. But putting my finger in to scoop some up would cause an earthquake, and that would kill a lot of the creatures, so Mai tells me to bear with it first.

I think Mai has had some effect on them. They've even got romantic ideals! They're particularly fond of the roses. The colour red is supposed to be 'fiery and full of passion' now – I could read that much from the book that teary-eyed lady, who had just broken up with her pre-mate, was reading.

The best part is that they've begun to worship me! But they've never seen me before, so the statues and pictures of me in their 'temples' are all different, and none of them look like me.

Some of them pray to multiple 'gods' too. Mai is supposed to be a love goddess, Nao is the goddess of trickery and entertainment, Midori-sensei is a goddess of justice and valor, and Youko-sensei is the goddess of recovery and peace. Oh, and I'm the goddess of creation!

They write 'legends' about us in their thick books too. Some of them say that we're all at war with each other, some about how we're all siblings, and others about Mai being my mate.

I like the last version best.

The creatures are really funny. They like to do weird things, like 'slavery', 'alienation', 'prejudice', and 'murder'. They even categorize themselves.

Male and female.  
Royalty and commoner.

It seems as if they're not that smart yet. Even Mai doesn't understand why they have 'social classes' and all that rubbish.

They're all the same, after all.

--

Today, I found an interesting creature.

She has eyes like Nao – a rich green, full of energy.

She's the princess of Fuuka. Or 'Ice Princess', as they call her. She doesn't act like a princess should, according to the creatures.

She's cold, rude, rash, stubborn, and uncaring. She doesn't attend the royal meetings, she doesn't 'curtsey' at all, she doesn't have any 'manners', she wolfs down her food messily, she tortures her 'suitors', she's never present for her 'tuition', she hates dresses, and she rides a motorcycle.

And that's what makes her interesting.

I think I'll be keeping an eye on this Kuga Natsuki.

--

There's another interesting creature!

Kuga Saeko, the queen of Fuuka, ordered a knight to act as a bodyguard to protect Natsuki.

Someone attacked Natsuki the night before. Of course, Natsuki beat them up pretty bad before they could even land a scratch on her. But they ran off (cowards!) before they could be caught, and Saeko is worried that they would send more people to come and kill Natsuki.

Natsuki isn't so pleased, but Saeko insists.

She also said that it had to be a 'female' knight, because she doesn't want the knight to fall in love with Natsuki and all the complications that come with that.

But there are very little 'female' knights, and even less talented ones that Saeko needs to properly make sure that Natsuki is safe.

But it was a very easy choice, because there was one knight who was brilliant at the trials. Midori-sensei, Mai and I were actually clapping for her (and hence creating thunder, which made all the creatures run for shelter).

Her name is Fujino Shizuru.

And her eyes are like roses.

--

"_Good morning, Natsuki-hime."_

"_Huh, so you're the babysitter?"_

"_I'm Fujino Shizuru, your bodyguard."_

"_Right, bodyguard. I bet you can't even lift a sack of flo – woah!"_

"_My job requires that I have a certain degree of strength, Natsuki-hime."_

"_Put me down now, you babysitting ogre!"_

"_Hmm?"_

"… _I command you to put me down now, Fujino."_

"_As you wish, Natsuki-hime."_

"_Feh. Just 'Natsuki' is fine."_

"_Ara?"_

"_Are you deaf?"_

"_I'm afraid not, although I was momentarily surprised by your offer. Then, please address me as 'Shizuru' only. Thank you, Na-tsu-ki."_

"_What the hell was with that tone you used to say my name?"_

"_Ara."_

--

Mai thinks that the bond between Natsuki and Shizuru is very sweet.

I think that it is sweet too, but … there is something wrong with it.

I'm going to have some of Mai's ramen … I won't worry about it yet … right?

--

"_But my precise instructions were to accompany Natsuki everywhere, and that means everywhere."_

"_Ugh, fine! Just get on the bike."_

"…"

"_Shizuru, don't tell me that you're afraid of Ducati."_

"_But it's a speeding, rickety motorcycle that screams of danger."_

"_Look, just get on. I won't let anything happen to yo – are you blushing?"_

"_Ara, my Natsuki is so cute, assuring me of her protection!"_

"_Sh-Shizuru! Just get the hell on already and … put your arms … around my … waist, or you'll fall off … Wait, since when was I yours?"_

--

It's amazing! Earth can now react to our moods, after Midori-sensei tweaked it some more.

Midori-sensei was about to have a closer look, and the musicians whipped up cheerful tunes, the heroes managed to snag more villains, and the inns overflowed with happy drunkards.

Youko-sensei came in just now, and the sea became calm, the breeze was gentle, and the forest was peaceful.

Then Mai came in, and the birds chirped joyously, the butterflies appeared from within the trees, and the kings' parties became merrier.

Next was Nao, and the hyenas laughed more, the foxes each tricked two tigers at one go, and the thieves carried home half of the nobles' possessions.

I leaned in closer, and the rabbits hopped higher, the sparrows flew faster, and the monkeys danced more energetically.

Midori-sensei said it was like our weather, except that the creatures named the falling-water 'rain', the bright-star 'sun', and the different-water 'clouds'. She also mentioned a lot of other weird names, but I've forgotten already.

It doesn't matter though. If it exists, it exists. Why bother giving it a fancy title?

--

"_Come, Natsuki!"_

"_Stop dragging me! Where are we going?"_

"_It's a secret."_

"_Tell me!"_

"_Ara, I'll have to defy that order for the time being."_

"_Shizuru, just tell m – why are we heading to the Grand Hall? It's not some stupid festival again, right?"_

"_Would I be as cruel as to force Natsuki into those?"_

"_Hmm."_

"_Mou, Natsuki knows that I don't like them either."_

"_I suppose that's true."_

"_Here we are!"_

"_HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NATSUKI!"_

"… _Alyssa, Miyu, Kazuya, Akane, __Yukino, Haruka, Chie, Aoi, Reito … Shizuru, you got all of them together for my birthday! They're the royalties of different countries! How did you manage to squeeze them out of their busy schedules?"_

"_It took a bit of organisation, some on their part as well. Oh, and the blackmail was a help."_

"… _I think I'll ignore the part about blackmail."_

"_Ara, don't look so disturbed. It's your birthday, Natsuki! As a sort of side-present, we got Saeko-sama to cancel all of your meetings, tuition, appointments, and suitor-dates for the next three days."_

"_Yes! Hahaha, I win! Thank you, everyone!"_

"_I take it that Natsuki likes her present?"_

"_Of course! … Hey, Shizuru, who is that guy over there?"_

"_Yuuichi Tate, a prince. Since when did Natsuki show interest in a man?"_

"_N-Never! I was just curious why some uninvited moron strolled into the party!"_

"_Saeko-sama invited him here – she said it would be good for you to know more boys. Natsuki is, after all, a princess."_

"… _Hmph."_

--

Mai cooked for me a gigantic bowl of ramen! It was even bigger than my pillows (just because they're on Mai doesn't mean that they belong to her, because they're mine for sure)!

_The bigger something is, the longer it lasts._

It took me nearly five minutes to eat it all! I wonder where she got the bowl from – it's really pretty. But Mai is pretty too, much prettier than this bowl. I told her that yesterday and she suddenly turned pink. I fetched the thermometer to check her temperature then but she only laughed.

Mai is unintelligible sometimes. A lot of pretty things are.

Like roses. Roses have really soft petals, and really nice colours, but they have really sharp thorns. When I try to pick some, they prick me. But when someone like Youko-sensei (Midori-sensei told me to call her that) reaches an arm into Earth to pluck one, they don't hurt her.

It's unintelligible!  
But it's so pretty; I can't get angry at it.

_Pretty things are unintelligible._

Now I've got two sentences in my notebook.

One day, it would be filled with good 'observations' and 'theories'!

--

"_I'm sorry, Shizuru. I have plans today."_

"_Fufufufu … with Tate-kun? Or maybe Yukino-san? Haruka-san would not be very pleased."_

"_Shizuru, I'm serious this time."_

"_Ah … It's fine, Natsuki. Go ahead – perhaps another day?"_

"_Of course. Mayb – I said I'm coming, Tate!"_

"_First name basis already? My, you're really going in for the kill, Natsuki."_

"_Shizuru, shut-up! Okay, okay, I'm coming. Bye, Shizuru."_

"_Have a safe trip, Natsuki."_

-- qp --

Midori-sensei came over today. She told Mai she was going to help me with Earth, because she's gotten really interested in it. Youko-sensei followed, but she refused to explain why although she turned red when Midori-sensei said that she just wanted to follow her around. I'm not too worried, because Youko-sensei is a doctor and she can take care of any fevers she gets.

We went to my room to watch Earth.

Even Midori-sensei was paying very close attention, but then she turned around and announced that she thought it was cruel.

We were surprised, and Mai asked why it was cruel.

Midori-sensei laughs, hugs Youko-sensei close to her despite the redness-fever, and points to Fuka. Her grin has an edge to it, and her voice cracks when she tells us that it's because it was such a pity.

Mai asked why it was a pity, and looked even more puzzled.

Midori-sensei smiles, an unintelligible smile, and says that it's such a pity, because they are such a beautiful couple, but they don't realise it.

Mai looks at her strangely, and then says that Tate and Natsuki did make somewhat of a cute duo.

Midori-sensei shivers with laughter, and Youko-sensei is flustered, still caught in Midori-sensei's embrace. Midori-sensei says that she did not mean Tate.

We knew what she really meant from the beginning, so we turn to the girl she was talking about.

The girl with the eyes like roses.

Unintelligible.

Midori-sensei asks what we thought of her.

Mai smiles shakily, then said that it was unlikely, because Natsuki is too oblivious, too stubborn, too dense, too infatuated with Tate to ever figure it out; and Shizuru is too indecisive, too deceptive, too smart to ever let Natsuki know.

Youko-sensei sighs, then said that it was impossible, because Tate is too young, too interesting, too lucky, too enthralled with Natsuki to ever let her go.

They turn to me, with the look of people who aren't really expecting anything much from someone but let them have their turn anyway, because it's only fair that way.

I fetch my notebook, and told them that it only had two sentences, so it wasn't really much, but they gave me encouraging smiles, and I smile back.

_The bigger something is, the longer it lasts.  
Pretty things are unintelligible._

Because Shizuru's love for Natsuki is too vast – vast enough to accept her flaws, too unwilling – too unwilling to allow Natsuki to love another, too cunning – too cunning to let anybody realise that it existed, Shizuru's love had to be big to be all that.

Because Shizuru's love was that big, it would last that long, and because her love was too big, it would last too long.

You can see it in her eyes. They are like roses, and they are pretty, and they are unintelligible. Like her feelings, because I don't understand why – why Shizuru's love was vast, why Shizuru's love was unwilling, why Shizuru's love was cunning.

Because Shizuru's love was that unintelligible, it was that pretty, and because her love was too unintelligible, it was too pretty.

Mai, Youko-sensei, and Midori-sensei blinked. Midori-sensei smiled, and told me that she was ready to give me an A+ for my project.

I find that the grin comes to my face less easily than usual.

On Earth, it began to rain.

Shizuru's love for Natsuki was undoubtedly everlasting, indescribably beautiful, exceedingly incomprehensible.

And I think that the saddest thing is that it was unrequited.

This … is no Earth.

* * *

This was inspired by **Kindergarten**, by **James E. Gunn**. It was in my literature book, and I was so blown away by its depth that I couldn't resist using it as a base for this fic.  
Somehow, however, it was warped into something quite different from the actual story, accommodating ShizuNatsu, YoukoMidori, and M&M (that is what I call MaiMikoto).

The vocabulary and grammar was meant to be kept simple, and any mistakes you find regarding them is most likely intentional – after all, it is told from the perspective of Mikoto, who doesn't really strike me as someone who would flood their writing with more elaborative words.  
In my opinion, Mikoto is a very straight-forward and honest person, and I tried to limit the level of English slightly as I think that she would write simply.

I was intending to blame the unorganised concepts on Mikoto's personality, but I admit that the chaos displayed by the ideas and paragraphing was my fault. Apologies.

This would be largely focused on Shizuru's relationship with other characters (particularly Natsuki), and the development of such bonds between the different characters.

Due to my lack of creativity after a short burst of one (that wasn't really great anyway), I would really be grateful if you send in a few prompts?

Thank you for reading! Please review, if it isn't too much trouble – I would really like to know what you think of this chapter.  
By the way, is it just me, or are the only Mai HiME characters that FanFiction dot net recognises Shizuru and Natsuki?


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